AMMAN, Jordan - Al-Qaida claimed responsibility Thursday for three suicide bomb attacks on Wester... Al-Qaida Claims Jordan Sui

AMMAN, Jordan - Al-Qaida claimed responsibility Thursday for three suicide bomb attacks on Western hotels that killed at least 56 people in the Jordanian capital, and the terror group's Web posting linked the deadly blasts to the war in Iraq.

Police continued a broad security lockdown and authorities sent DNA samples for testing to identify the attackers. Land borders were reopened after being closed for nearly 12 hours. The government lowered the death toll by one but gave no reason.

The al-Qaida claim, which could not be independently verified, said Jordan became a target because it was "a backyard garden for the enemies of the religion, Jews and crusaders ... a filthy place for the traitors ... and a center for prostitution."

The nearly simultaneous attacks late Wednesday also wounded more than 115 people, police said. Police detained several people overnight, although it was unclear if they were of suspects or witnesses.

The claim of responsibility, signed in the name of the spokesman for Al-Qaida in Iraq, said the attacks put the United States on notice that the "backyard camp for the crusader army is now in the range of fire of the holy warriors."

Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba said the attack should alert Jordan that it needed to stop playing host to former members of Saddam Hussein's regime.

"I hope that these attacks will wake up the `Jordanian street' to end their sympathy with Saddam's remnants ... who exploit the freedom in this country to have a safe shelter to plot their criminal acts against Iraqis," he said.

Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said shortly after the blasts that al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a "prime suspect." The Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi is known for his animosity to the country's Hashemite monarchy. The claim of responsibility did not name King Abdullah II but twice referred to the "tyrant of Jordan."

In the attacks, the suicide bombers detonated explosives at the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels just before 9 p.m. One of the explosions took place inside a hall where 300 guests were celebrating a wedding.

The dead and wounded were mainly Jordanians. Other victims included three Chinese, all from China's elite military training university, and four Palestinians, including two top security officials.

Until late Wednesday, Amman _ a comfortable, hilly city of white stone villas and glitzy high-rises _ had mostly avoided large-scale attacks and was a welcome sanctuary of stability in a troubled region.

Al-Zarqawi is most known for the string of devastating suicide attacks launched in Iraq, often against U.S. targets but also against Shiite Iraqis. He has shown a flair for propaganda and has drawn wide support among militants in the region.

He was sentenced to death in absentia by a Jordanian military court for the October 2002 assassination of a U.S. diplomat, Laurence Foley, in Amman.

His group also is accused of previously trying to blow up the Radisson SAS in Amman as part of the so-called Millennium plot in 1999 and of an attack this August on a U.S. Navy ship in the Jordanian port of Aqaba that killed one Jordanian soldier.

In Amman, a security official said authorities had tips on suspects who are being hunted down, including possible sleeper cells or individuals who may have assisted the attackers and later fled in a vehicle bearing Iraqi license plates.

The official, insisting on anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to reporters, said DNA tests were being carried out to determine the identity of the perpetrators, including two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in two of the separate hotel attacks. A third suicide attacker used a car to attack.

Maj. Gen. Bashir Nafeh, the head of military intelligence in the West Bank, and Col. Abed Allun, a high-ranking Preventive Security forces official, were killed in the attack at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Palestinian envoy to Amman, Ambassador Attala Kheri, told The AP in a telephone interview.

Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed that an Israeli was killed in the bombings, but had no other details. The Army Radio said that the man was living at one of the hotels, but declined to say which.

The state Jordan Television showed Abdullah inspecting the sites of the blasts after returning home early Thursday, cutting short an official visit to Kazakhstan. He later presided over a meeting of his security chiefs, including police and intelligence.

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